How do you store art supplies? My collection of arts & crafts supplies for my 2 kids has gotten out of control. We have play doh, moon sand, water paints, tempura paints, various types of colored and patterned paper and then odds and ends like goggly eyes, pipe cleaners, pom poms and of course glue and glue sticks. I have been storing them in plastic bins in a closet, but I end up with some full bins, some empty bins and never can seem to find the one I need even though they are all clear. Also, my son is starting to get old enough that I should be able to put certain items (like crayons and coloring books) within his reach, but they would need to be away from his baby sister. Does anyone have any really good solutions for these types of things?
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J.,
I buy those cute photo boxes from Michael's. Menards also usually has them for a couple bucks. I label them, and they stack nicely on a book shelf, in a closet, or in a 2 door cabinet (which we got at Menards). My older daughter knows which box contains what just by the color of the box. We used to use the clear shoeboxes, but my almost 2 twins would be able to see the things they wanted (but couldn't have) and would go nuts. We keep one box empty with our daughter's name on it as a quick one to grab with miscellaneous projects for those "I'm bored!" days.
We bought one of those plastic carts on wheels that has 5 drawers on it. I put the crayons and markers and stuff in the top drawers and my 5 year old can reach it. My 2 year old can't. We bought ours at Costco and I think it was around $25. I like it because it is plastic bins and can be cleaned easily if need be. Plus, we can wheel it into the kitchen when we are doing art projects so our supplies are right by our side. It fits coloring books and paper well too- just the right size.
I have the same issue with art supplies. I finally bought a lot of smaller/medium bins to separate out crayons from markers from colored pencils from water colors from paint, etc. But, at Target, I found compartmental and stackable clear bins with a handle on top that we use for beading supplies, jewelry making, craft supplies such as pipe cleaners in one compartment, googly eyes in another, pom-poms in another, etc. I tried to find them on target.com, but didn't find an exact match. However, while searching their website I found a huge selection of craft organization:
http://www.target.com/b/ref=sc_fe_l_1_###-###-####_10/602...
I also keep two sets of commonly used items (crayons, coloring books, markers, etc.) - one upstairs in the kitchen and one in the lower level family room/craft area. The lower level has the cabinet with all of the once a week/once a month type items as well.
